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Who is the oldest person to race in a sanctioned,pro DH race?

SCARY

Not long enough
I know im not close yet,but I need to start planning in the near long term for some motivation.

When you get to my age ,you start looking for any reason to keep it going.Or,like most give up,get fat and start golfing.


Is there anyone on earth racing pro at 50?Oldest I think I know of is 46, i think.
 

supercow

Monkey
Feb 18, 2009
969
128
HOw old are you out of interest?

Edit: Is DH all about racing for you? For me it's not at all … I just dig going fast on a big ol’ bike and having fun … so I think I’ll keep going till my body tells me “NO MORE”
 
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trib

not worthy of a Rux.
Jun 22, 2009
1,456
388
How old are the guys at VETs worlds? Shaums March, Nige Page etc
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Ive been to Czech nats ~5-6 years ago and Im quite sure Ive seen some ~60year old dudes racing. They had a team or sth. All over 50 for sure.
 

worship_mud

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2006
1,464
2
i raced in Italy once and was really surprised how many racers were older than i am (i'm 40), rather large number of guys ca. 50 and above... i guess there were ca 30 of them out of a field of 250 racer.
i was stunned, because it's usually me who is the oldest and who gets the strange looks and comments like "what's that grand-daddy doing here, picking up his grandchildren?"
at that race in italy it seemed rather normal to have a large number of "elderly people" race.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
Vets world Champ Alistair Mclennan must be approaching 50

his times at Fort William are consistently in the sub 5:30s and he won the endurance downhill there this year with mega consistent timed runs.

There used to be a few over 50s racing the SDA (Scottish national series)

Nigel page is young, he was just born bald.
 

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
Going off of UCI licences (which aren't always shown in race results), the oldest guys I can find on Roots and Rain are a couple of british racers who were both 61 when they did their last races in 07/08. They'd probably rather not be named in a "oh gosh, look who's REALLY OLD" post by me! :)
 

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
Dick Bergeron (sp?) raced Semi-Pro in the old Norba races......he was 62-63, raced on a Yeti with Yeti kit so maybe others here know more info.

He some sort of accomplished moto racer....Dirt ovals i think, i'm not sure....

Guy was not slow at all.....he was moving out there.
 

SCARY

Not long enough
Damn,that dude races alot.Is the veteran class the same as the pro class?I knew some peoplewould forget the "pro" stipulation.

Ill be 42 in January,but if dudes are still racing pro class in their 60's,Im gonna have to find a new goal.

Im am one of those guys who its all about racing.I only really ride to prepare for races.Its just where my motivation lies.I'm not very good,but I like all the possibilities there are in the start gate.I dont/cant race very often.If i did, I would get burnt out on all the stuff that is not involved in the race run,itself.Ive been their before.I love the race more than everything else.Its all the other training,travel,talking to other humans,I get bored with too quick.So,I pick a few races,train for those and be done with it.
 

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
Damn,that dude races alot.Is the veteran class the same as the pro class?I knew some peoplewould forget the "pro" stipulation.

Ill be 42 in January,but if dudes are still racing pro class in their 60's,Im gonna have to find a new goal.

Im am one of those guys who its all about racing.I only really ride to prepare for races.Its just where my motivation lies.I'm not very good,but I like all the possibilities there are in the start gate.I dont/cant race very often.If i did, I would get burnt out on all the stuff that is not involved in the race run,itself.Ive been their before.I love the race more than everything else.Its all the other training,travel,talking to other humans,I get bored with too quick.So,I pick a few races,train for those and be done with it.
No, Ali Maclennan is not in the pro class. Vets is purely an age related category. The US equivalent would be "Cat 1/2/3: 40+"

He was an expert until a few years ago though (our equivalent of "Cat 1")
 

monkeyfcuker

Monkey
May 26, 2008
912
8
UK, Carlisle
Edit- To slow!!


What is pro? In the UK we have Age related categories and expert and elite.

Copied from British cycling-
Juvenile - To qualify for the Juvenile category, a rider must be in their 13th or 14th year.* Riders in their 12th year are also eligible in Downhill, and in 2011 may apply to BC for dispensation to ride in the juvenile category in Cross Country.
Youth - Riders in their 15th and 16th years
Junior - Riders in their 17th and 18th years
Senior / Expert / Elite - When a rider reaches his or her 19th year then the Senior or Sport category is the appropriate aged based category. See below for how riders can attain Expert or Elite status.
Master - for riders aged 30 to 39.* In Downhill Senior riders will default to Master on reaching their 30th year.* In Cross Country, Sport riders will continue to be classified as Sport unless they elect to ride in the Masters category. This change was introduced for 2011 in recognition of the high standard of competition in XC Masters racing, to allow an extra category option for those in this age group.
Veteran - for riders aged 40 to 49.
Grand Veteran - for riders aged over 50 (DH and female XC) or aged 50 to 59 (male XC).
Super Veteran - for male XC riders aged over 60



Ali Mclennan is an absolute animal, seen him from the gondola a few times at the Endurance DH at Fort William and he was flying, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he could still qualify for a world cup there.
 
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- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
What is pro? In the UK we have Age related categories and expert and elite.
In the US it's all ability-based AND age-based.

At the top level (our "Elite") they have Pro (and sometimes Vet Pro for the 35+ guys).

Below that it's Cat 1 (our "Expert") which will normally be split into 0-18, 19-29, 30-39, 40+.

Then Cat 2 (closest to most people in our age-based cats). Same age groupings as above.

And finally Cat 3 (complete newbs who need all the help they can get! :)). Same age groupings apart from the juniors who are split into 0-14 & 15-18, typically.


Seems I learnt something from adding hundreds of US races to the site :)
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
Leigh Donovan is 39, 40 in december. Still racing pro for fun, still faster than a lot of 'pros'...and she rarely ever rides a bicycle.

Oh but shes a chick, I will assume this thread is for DUDES! ;)
 

yopaulie

Monkey
Jun 4, 2009
165
7
NH
I stepped down from pro last year at 42 because it kinda sucked to have a good run and finish mid pack if I was lucky. I do think the US could use a vet pro class because there are a lot of 30+ fast guys who aren’t competitive enough for the pro class.
 

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
I stepped down from pro last year at 42 because it kinda sucked to have a good run and finish mid pack if I was lucky. I do think the US could use a vet pro class because there are a lot of 30+ fast guys who aren’t competitive enough for the pro class.
ProGRT, NW Cup, Fontana and MSC all have a Pro vet/35+ class. HTH :)
 

Eastern States Cup

Turbo Monkey
Feb 29, 2008
2,465
2
East Coast
ProGRT, NW Cup, Fontana and MSC all have a Pro vet/35+ class. HTH :)
on the East Coast only the 2 ProGRT's. The others are a few days drive for yopaulie. On the east coast it would dilute the 10-12 guys that race Cat1 40+. Most "older" pros have dropped to Cat1. Another thing to consider in the USA is the lic cost. 175 for vet pro vs 65 for cat1.
 

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
True, didn't occur to me to check where he lived, or to note that most of what I posted are west-coast-based!
 

yopaulie

Monkey
Jun 4, 2009
165
7
NH
on the East Coast only the 2 ProGRT's. The others are a few days drive for yopaulie. On the east coast it would dilute the 10-12 guys that race Cat1 40+. Most "older" pros have dropped to Cat1. Another thing to consider in the USA is the lic cost. 175 for vet pro vs 65 for cat1.
I think next year I may only do one race and I will probably enter cat 2 so I don't have to pay $100+ for a single race. I also dont really want to give any more of my money to the USAC!
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
I stared at the USAC site for a good 15 minutes last week waffling between my option to click "PRO or CAT 1" from the drop down menu before registering for Beech.

I have raced Pro class in everything non-USAC and would have beaten anyone in my age group by a substantial margin otherwise (there are several of us 35+ guys doing so). Our region went away from USAC for a few years and are now going back to it, so I had to choose.

It really sucks because at a big National Cat 1 men is a cluster in practice. It's why I won't pay to race AM at Diablo and register for Open. I can do a boatload of practice runs and have very little shot at making the final or I can bounce off guys in AM practice and qualify for that final.

I race to ride tracks a boatload these days. Downgrading to Cat1 to be the most competitive in the actual race run means I have to sacrifice the majority of my fun time in practice. :D
 

SCARY

Not long enough
This is where I am too,Butch.Im a sucky "pro" but would have won easily the few races I've done,if I had done a Cat1 age class.I guess I'd rather have to try hard and get sad results in pro,than drop down,not have to ride my bike and do well.

I know my time will come, but I'm not gonna worry too much about the times of kidsin the same class of whom I can be their father.Let's see what they're doin at 42 and beyond.
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
Nope. No Vet Pro in the US. I wound up picking Cat 1 and I still sort of regret it. Would have finished something like 9th in our local Pro race...granted there were I think...10.

But come National Championship finals, I know I'd be carpet on the floor of the pro column. :doh:
 

thad

Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
388
21
Bart McDaniel is 48, I think? Won the Fluidride cup overall at 44, beating Strobel, Sternberg, etc.
 

WParsons

Chimp
Mar 19, 2011
71
0
I read an article (I think in some medical journal that my wife gets) that athletic ability doesn't deteriorate that much even into your 40's and 50's. The main difference in outcomes are results in time in. Simply put, in general younger people can afford more time to train than us older folk.

Have any of you ever ridden with an older fit XC or roadie dude? Even in their 50's that can destroy you - all day long. I used to train with a 60 year old ex-Olympic road racer and it was very hard to drop him, even at my fittest. The only way I could get away was in full on sprint or a long sustained climb. On the flats he was right there.

One of my best friends came back to dh racing at about 40 and ended up winning the World Masters and winning a couple of Provincial championships. Faster than he ever was.

I think if you can devote the time and stay healthy there is no reason why you can't win any 'pro' race well into your 40's and possibly even your 50's.
 

SCARY

Not long enough
Yeah,wonder about that.Seems most people lose the drive when they get to this age.I still have it.I just dont think i can aquire and hold onto the skills to get much better.My current plateau would make nebraska jealous,with nary a hill or valley on the horizon.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
Have any of you ever ridden with an older fit XC or roadie dude? Even in their 50's that can destroy you - all day long. I used to train with a 60 year old ex-Olympic road racer and it was very hard to drop him, even at my fittest. The only way I could get away was in full on sprint or a long sustained climb. On the flats he was right there.
Yeah, I rode road with a 50yr old who could destroy us all when I was in my early 20s, so much so that he'd often ride an old mountainbike on longer 80mile(ish) rides while we were on our roadbikes

Yeah,wonder about that.Seems most people lose the drive when they get to this age.I still have it.I just dont think i can aquire and hold onto the skills to get much better
I raced for about 15 years before finally calling it a day around 5 years ago, I definitely lost the drive to do well, that was partly down to injury but more than that it was down to lack of concentration, Technically I'm still as good a rider as I ever was (as good as many riders half my age) and am still improving skills wise in some respects but I simply don't have that drive to concentrate for more than about 30sec in one go anymore. Now that I no longer race I also have very little interest in actively learning the fastest lines down a track anymore. ,the most fun lines, Yes! (usually much more obvious anyway :D ).
I can also tell you the best line round every puddle on every track I ride. ;)
 

clockwork

Chimp
Jun 6, 2008
19
0
Yeah,wonder about that.Seems most people lose the drive when they get to this age.I still have it.I just dont think i can aquire and hold onto the skills to get much better.My current plateau would make nebraska jealous,with nary a hill or valley on the horizon.
Are you saying its flat here and no dh to train on ??